


It's All His Fault

by OnesieQueen16



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 08:20:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnesieQueen16/pseuds/OnesieQueen16
Summary: Death gained a whole new meaning when I was given the chance for a second life. "From now on, I alone will stand at the top." Eyes narrowed, my reply came almost instantly. "Then I guess we'll just have to drag you back down to the bottom where you belong."





	1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach or Naruto. 

* * *

**It's All His Fault.**

_Chapter O.N.E._

_"Indicator"_

 _"Uncertainty is the most stressful feeling."_ -Unknown

* * *

Hachiko. 

That was the name of the town she currently resided in. It wasn't very big, but she wouldn't really classify it as small either. Maybe just somewhere in the middle. The houses were wooden, old fashioned and traditional, and were at least well-taken care of. Maybe not with the most extravagant materials, but modern. Lots of food stalls and oddball jobs. It was a simple place with simple wants and demands if one ignored the stares she got from everyone. Considering what she'd heard about other places, she supposed this was normal and therefore acceptable. 

(Not that she would've cared. Her memories were extremely hazy, but she got the sense that even in her past life, she'd never cared for luxury.)

That was probably the only thing that threw her for a loop. She'd died somehow. And ended up here. In this place the other adults called Rukongai. In the South Rukongai's 30th District, Hachiko. 

It was almost baffling to her. And it was apparently normal for Souls to not have a clear memory of their former life, which disappointed her. (She figured she'd always been an abnormally curious one because she wanted to know _why_ and _how_ in as much detail as possible.)

She'd tried. Oh, she'd tried so hard to dig up those lost memories and search through the haze that clouded her mind. Most times she wasn't so lucky and ended up giving herself monstrous headaches that lasted the whole day. Other times, she'd be able to catch the faint echo of a voice or two, though neither were very distinguishable or blurry images of terrains and outlines of people she must've known, but were never clear to her. 

It was beyond frustrating.

The leader of the town, Masamune Rin, was the one who explained everything to her as she stumbled around with wide eyes and uncertainty upon her initial arrival. She was what was called a Plus. Or a Soul after her blank stare told him she still hadn't grasped what she was. She'd understood that word much better than Plus, as she could easily tie souls with death. She'd died in some way and was sent here to Hachiko at random where she was to live for the rest of her time. Whether that meant she could die again, she left it unasked. She didn't want to know the answer. 

It was pretty straight-forward. It was like living, only with the knowledge that one was actually dead. Earn your keep. Maintain the peace with the other civilians. Don't cause trouble. Live how you want without disturbance. 

Sounded easy enough. 

She was given a few options on what she could do now, though she didn't hesitate when only one of the three ideas were presented to her. She claimed the lone house at the edge of town for herself and that was that. She was given some starting money from Masamune to get the bare essentials and the rest would be up to her. It was just how she liked it.

The others thought she was strange to want to live alone despite the reluctant offers from others that she could room with them. 

(Maybe it was something from before, but the idea of sharing a space with strangers left her feeling...very uncomfortable and not at all something she'd indulge in.)

The other Souls could at least appreciate that she had very good manners and was a quiet individual who kept to herself. The fear they still felt for the strange girl still remained, along with an invisible, heavy weight that lay on their shoulders. 

When asked for her name, she had to stop and think for a second. Pink hair fell into her line of sight and she reached up to push it back behind her ear where it belonged. "Sakura," She'd said. "I think my name was Haruno Sakura." 

* * *

Sakura had the sneaking suspicion that she had been a fighter in her last life. 

It had been 86 days since her first steps into the 30th District and she'd had her first conflict on her 75th day. Her home was slowly coming around, furnished with what she barely needed to get by and the beginnings of hanging plants becoming evident. The air smelled heavily of wet dirt and plants, but it was comforting and therefore enough. (It would always be enough for her.) 

She'd met a kind merchant, Sawamura Koushi, who had no issues meeting her apparently intimidating gaze and offering her a smile as he sold his wares to her. He gave her plenty of insight on what she was buying, offering tips of advice and really putting himself out there as one of the better kinds of salesman. Sakura appreciated his honesty and kind smile, apologizing to him when she scared off his normal customers when she approached as he waved it off. It was a welcome change compared to the nervous stares from the villagers. 

She had the misfortune of stumbling across a group of children screaming and crying at a man who was holding one of their own off the ground by the front of his shirt, scowling up a storm and glaring fire into the poor kid's eyes. 

(The scene was eerily familiar to Sakura and for a split second, she saw a black-robed figure holding an even tinier boy in his grasp as said boy tried kicking at his knees to put him down.)

She didn't want to get involved. It wasn't her business that the kids had done something to make the man angry, but her heart strings tugged and they cried for her to do something. 

So she kicked him harshly in the back of his knees, throwing an elbow into his face when his legs gave out from under him. He dropped the boy as he fell flat on his back, hissing around an undoubtedly broken nose. He scowled at her around the blood crawling down his face, stumbling to his feet and attempting to grab her. Her muscles coiled and her body moved before she registered she'd done anything. 

She lowered her center of gravity, ducking under his grasping hands and, legs tensing, landed a solid roundhouse kick to his cheek. He flew past the gaping children, landing solidly on the ground and going limp. Unconscious. 

She'd never forget the awe and fear that was on their faces. 

Nor would she forget that they never thanked her for saving them. 

* * *

She'd been in Hachiko for 194 days, making neat little lines in the wall in her room every morning when she woke up. Sakura didn't get why she did it, but a habit was a habit at this point, so she kept it up. Part of her was curious to see how she'd age here. Was it a normal aging process? Fast-acting or reduced? Instantaneous or non-existent? She rolled her neck and stretched, yawning as she climbed to her feet and folded her bedding up until later that night. 

Her home wasn't very accommodating for guests, which suited Sakura just fine as she didn't see herself inviting anyone in anytime soon. A bed, a simple couch, her kitchen supplies, and all the hanging plants she kept inside that needed little sunlight to grow. It was more of a glorified greenhouse than a home, but it was perfect for her. It was just enough to make it comfortable for her and her alone.

She had a natural green thumb, she'd found out. Plants flourished under her watchful eyes, sprouting from the ground and standing to their fully grown height with little troubles on her end of the process. She'd turned the clearing behind her empty home into a garden of sorts, wedging spikes into the ground and procuring wire from one of the carpentry shops in town to make a rough fence. (Mainly it was to keep the nosier children out. They annoyed her more than she'd ever show, especially when one brave boy ripped up a fully grown Sweet Flag plant.)

He'd faced her cold stare for weeks after that incident because that particular plant required near constant moist soil and it was a lot of effort wasted for nothing. 

She fingered the budding leaves of a Timber Bamboo, frowning. She frightened the villagers. They were so skittish around her, stumbling over their feet like a newborn animal and squeaking their words out hastily before retreating. It was a confusing turn of events. Perhaps she shouldn't have made her displeasure with that little boy known to his new mother. She was a known gossip around here.

(She'd find out many years later that it wasn't the iciness in her eyes or the calculating expression she always wore. Rather it was the Spiritual Pressure she was constantly emitting, unknowingly putting so much _weight_ on the weaker Souls, threatening to eradicate their very existence away into nothing.)

It wasn't long until they stopped coming around. Both the adults and the children. She really only saw them when they came to her door with shaking hands holding coins and bargaining her for the plants she grew in her home and backyard for whatever purposes they needed them for. She never questioned them, simply agreeing to their demands and sending them running once the exchange was done. 

The people here were awful about keeping up with their vegetation. Sakura noticed very few couldn't tell the difference between a wilting and thriving plant or a plant that needed water compared to one that didn't. It didn't bother her that they came to her with their requests. Homegrown spices and medicinal herbs were far cheaper compared to what the traders would sell. 

At least she was making some sort of income. 

"This one needs more water," Sakura mumbled under her breath, curling her fingers into the semi-dry dirt of the Timber plant. Swiping her hand across her yukata and ignoring the shoes that had been kindly given to her by Masamune, she grabbed her water bucket by the door and left her home for the well that sat in the center of the town. The gritty texture of the ground beneath her feet was more accommodating than the flat-footed sandals that sent sharp pains up her ankles. 

The well was located in the middle of the bustling marketplace, swarmed by people and travelers stopping for a rest. There was a near constant stream of chatter, shop keepers calling out their wares and deals in hopes to capture the interest of the locals. Children weaved between the adults, grinning and laughing as they chased each other. Clouds obscured the sun that would otherwise beam down relentlessly on Sakura's shoulders, not that it really bothered her the way it did everyone else. 

(She was used to such unrelenting heat.) 

It came as no surprise that as she approached the well, those who were seated around it quickly relocated themselves amongst the crowd, who parted for her as if she were of royalty. Sakura mentally scoffed at that, but hurriedly filled her bucket and left the nervous crowds behind. 

"Ah, Sakura!" She paused, humming at the familiar voice before making her way towards a more out of the way stall. She wondered if this particular trader, who was more comfortable talking to her than the others, made it a point to park his business this far away from the center of town to make it easier for her to do business with him without her accidentally scaring away other potentials. 

"Sawamura," She greeted, nodding to the ash-haired man as she set her water at her feet. He was an average one, she'd noted her first time meeting him, of normal height for a guy and grey eyes that were always sparkling. If they were just a shade or two lighter, his eyes would've reminded her of gleaming diamonds. 

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sakura," He teased. "I've told you countless times to call me Koushi. You are my best customer!" 

Sakura gave him an indulging smile. "Forgive me." He snorted at the uncaring tone she used as her eyes roved over the wares he had bundled up neatly above her head. "Have you got anything new?" 

He grinned. "I sure do. All the way from the 1st District actually. I think you'll actually appreciate it." 

Ah, the 1st District. Sakura guessed she could call it the wealthiest place out of all the Districts, but she didn't know if it meant money was more available or some other odd reason. She'd heard that the living arrangements were the same until you got passed the 50th District, which was said to decline mortality-wise the further in one got. 

She cocked her head. Maybe she would go to Rin and ask if she could leave to travel between Districts. She didn't know if she needed permission or not to leave since Hachiko had kindly taken her under their wing, but it was better to be safe than sorry or to offend anyone. 

Reaching underneath the counter, Koushi produced a brown parcel with tiny white flowers peeking out from the end. "You'll like this a lot," He said, handing it over to her. "This is called Scurvy Grass. It's a very finicky plant, requiring such a picky amount of water and a malleable soil. It's starting to flourish in the 1st District, but I know it won't do so well outside of it." 

Sakura blinked slowly, flashes of red and amber coming to mind. Scurvy Grass. She knew this plant from her old life. 

"This is medicinal." 

"It is," Koushi said. "It's also a really good spice according to the other merchants." 

"Why give me this?" Sakura did indeed have some medicinal plants growing, but they were minor ones, meant for stomach pains or headaches. Scurvy Grass could be used for more than that, its value far more above what she grew now. Her little business was mainly just for the families who were scrounging away their money and needed medicine or spices for cheap. Koushi knew that. 

His eyebrows scrunched up and he leaned forward, cupping his chin. "There's something being passed around in the higher Districts. It's a small issue, but it'd be better for you to be prepared for when it hits than not at all." 

"A sickness?" 

"Something like that," Koushi frowned. "Souls have been disappearing lately. We're worried it's something in the food at this point."

Something in Sakura snapped to attention, her back straightening as she gave Koushi her undivided attention. "Disappearing? Kidnappings?" 

He shook his head. "We don't think so." He didn't sound so sure. "Their clothes are left behind. It's speculated that their bodies are just...evaporating." 

That was...worrisome. "That's possible?" 

"Of course, we don't have actual bodies, you know." No, Sakura didn't actually know that. She bit the inside of her cheek, filing that comment away for later. "Our bodies are just condensed Spiritual Pressure compacted together to give us our forms now after we've died. If we're under too much pressure, our current bodies won't be able to handle the strain and the Spiritual Pressure keeping us together will start to break apart, hence us disintegrating."

"What could cause something like that?" Sakura mumbled thoughtfully, mind whirling. She'd have to be more careful.

(She had no idea that she was in no actual danger. Her Spiritual Pressure was so strong that the idea of something putting a strain on her was laughable, but it was only possible because her energy was so wild and untrained and couldn't be pinpointed easily.) 

"Nobody knows yet. None of mine has concocted it yet, but that's only because I have them downing the liquid form at least once every day until it passes."

"Are you growing this yourself?" Sakura asked curiously. She couldn't see him being able to afford that for very long, especially with a little girl and pregnant wife to worry over. 

Koushi shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I have to if I want to keep up with the trends. It's expensive hiring someone else to grow them for me when I'm capable of doing it myself. All I've got to do is buy the seeds." 

"How resourceful of you," Sakura said, gingerly folding the package back up. "How much would you like for this?" 

He waved away the coins she'd started to pull out. "Free of charge this time." She arched a challenging eyebrow at him, eyes flashing when he smirked at her. She knew he knew she didn't like taking anything for free. Especially from the traders. It could come back to bite her. He wagged his finger at her. "I won't accept your money today. You've been a faithful customer to me ever since you came here, so I can make exceptions every once in a while." 

"Don't make it a habit," Sakura deadpanned, reluctantly putting her money away. 

"I have to make a profit somehow," He joked good-naturedly. Sakura gave him a grateful bow before departing. 

She had Scurvy Grass to plant it seemed. And lots of it, too. 

* * *

_She had a dream that night._

_Demolished ruins surrounded her, fire licking away the remains and eating whatever it could. She didn't recognize anything. Smoke was filling her lungs, making it hard to breath. She desperately wanted to cough, to give in to the natural sensation of releasing that harsh pressure, but she firmed her lips and held it in. She couldn't be heard yet. It wasn't time._

_A powerful leap and then she was scaling the side of a mountain. Rocks gave under her steps, but they didn't stop her, merely propelled her higher as she used them as stepping stones. There were ridges under her feet now, meticulously carved with great care and with meaning. Faces, they were faces._ _She used the tip of one's nose to push her up that final time and landed on the top._

_She dropped to one knee instantly._

_"What's the damage?"_

_"Many were evacuated safely," She answered._

_"The forces?"_

_She took a while to answer. "Nearly gone."_

_A sigh and then something green fluttered against her cheek. "Come. We have work to do."_

Sakura woke that morning with tears cascading down her cheeks as a vision of blond pigtails and a green coat faded along with her dream. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death gained a whole new meaning when I was given the chance for a second life. "From now on, I alone will stand at the top." Eyes narrowed, my reply came almost instantly. "Then I guess we'll just have to drag you back down to the bottom where you belong."

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach. Or Naruto. 

* * *

**It's All His Fault.**

_Chapter T.W.O._

_"Reach"_

 _"You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather."_ -Pema Chodron

* * *

It was almost into Sakura's first full year in Hachiko before the next most interesting thing happened. Though it was in the form of a little girl who had more steel in her body than anyone she'd ever met.

The sun had barely even risen above the horizon and already she could feel a headache coming on. 

She was completely ordinary. Nothing really stood out about the small child standing before her. (But was she really a child or was she much older than what her appearance showed?) Her shoulders were slouched, brown hair mousy and plain in two spiky pigtails, dirty skin covered in dust and grass stains, and a filthy yukata that was ripped at the bottom. She had a set of beautiful lilac-grey eyes, but they were more attached to Sakura's feet than actually looking at her.

A freshly grown Scruvy Grass was grasped in her tiny fist, the stalk being crushed beneath her harsh grip.

If fire could manifest from her eyes, Sakura believes that maybe the little girl would've been burned to death by now.

(For some reason, she thought of black flames when she thought of fire, but that was impossible because fire wasn't black.)

"Why do you need that?" Sakura demanded, glaring at the ripped up plant in the kid's hand. The amount of _effort_ she'd put into growing the Scurvy Grass she'd received from Koushi almost five months ago was astronomical. He hadn't been kidding when he said they were so _finicky_ because she'd lost about half of stock she'd managed to grow before she found a happy medium and this kid just _ripped it up like it was a weed._

The kid pursed her lips, eyes narrowing petulantly.

"Don't make me ask again."

"I don't want to get sick," The girl snapped, looking into green eyes for the first time since Sakura had caught her in the garden ten minutes ago.

The disappearances had slowly gotten worse over the months. The terrifying part of the whole thing was that it wasn't in a consecutive pattern of attacks. No, it was completely random and that sent alarms raging through Sakura. A sickness as bad as this didn't just _come and go_ as it pleased like that. It struck and it struck hard and then when a vaccine was created or their body's antibodies were able to fight against it, _it would disappear._ So it was strange that the Souls would get reprieves for a period of time before another Soul went missing and their clothes were found in the woods or their homes. 

It was also starting to branch out into the Districts past the 15th as of two months ago.

(She thought something was a little fishy about it, but she kept her opinions to herself because who the hell would listen to her anyway in this place where everyone feared her?)

"And you know how to use that plant properly to make medicine?" Sakura deadpanned, arching an eyebrow. Pale skin flushed an embarrassed blotchy red. 

"I've watched you do it for awhile now," She defended. "I know what I'm doing." 

Good lord, Sakura actually had a little stalker now? She was grudgingly impressed as she hadn't seen any evidence of someone meandering around her home or felt eyes on her. A con artist, maybe? No, that didn't fit her at all. A thief? She was certainly dirty enough to be one. 

Sakura crossed her arms. "Is that so?" She challenged. "Then tell me why you've already ruined the most vital part of that plant if you've apparently _watched_ me so much?"

The girl froze, raising the plant to eye level and scrutinizing it. "Did I?" She questioned, glaring at the plant like it would tell her the answer. 

"You tore the roots straight out of the ground," Sakura stated bluntly. Strange-colored eyes widened, latching onto the limp roots covered in soil. "Whatever efficiency they had before you carelessly ripped them up is practically gone now. Even if you salvaged them, the final product wouldn't be as potent as it normally would be if you'd been _careful_."

A string of angry curses flew from the girl's lips. Sakura wasn't even remotely surprised she knew such colorful language. 

"Take me on as your apprentice!" The girl proclaimed suddenly, fiercely meeting Sakura's gaze. 

Sakura blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. She'd misheard her, right? "Excuse me?" 

"I want to be your apprentice," The kid repeated. The earnest look on her face was genuine and _good lord_ , this brat was actually serious. "Teach me how to make medicine like you do." 

Sakura scowled, eyebrow twitching. This kid had the nerve to march onto her property without permission, tear up a part of her garden for selfish reasons, and now she had the audacity to demand something of her? Staring her squarely in the eyes, Sakura declined. "Absolutely not."

* * *

Irritably, the kid was persistent. Annoyingly so. 

She was at Sakura's front door or hovering outside the fence's perimeter like clockwork, staring lasers at the pink-haired girl as she more or less commanded Sakura to be her teacher. Sakura didn't have a lot of patience and she certainly didn't have anymore after dealing with this kid for three weeks straight. Her answer never changed and it pissed off the kid each and every time. 

It was almost like a reversed game of cat and mouse. Sakura the cat, the brat the mouse. The mouse wants something from the cat and the cat, who would normally pounce on the opportunity to go after the mouse, turned its nose up and basically told it to scram. 

(She was always hit with a wave of nostalgia when she thought of it like that. Blue eyes and a beaming smile and a feeling of annoyance always accompanied the kid when she came around in the morning.)

"Make me your apprentice!" That had to be the hundredth time she'd heard that phrase and damn, she was getting tired of hearing it. 

"You don't know how to take no for an answer, do you? Beat it, kid. I'm not a teacher." 

When it became clear that Sakura wasn't changing her mind, the girl grew bolder and started following Sakura around, albeit still at a distance. And it was literally everywhere. She tailed her as Sakura did her rounds around the garden, her few trips into town, into the woods when Sakura needed firewood, even when Sakura went to see Koushi every month he came through Hachiko. 

"You have a friend," Koushi beamed, waving at the little girl. She flushed and quickly ducked into an alleyway. Sakura didn't miss the dark stares some adults sent the child as she disappeared and hid a frown. 

"More like a cockroach," Sakura growled. "Or an itch that I can't scratch." 

"Oh, come on. She can't be that bad." 

"She follows me around and demands me to be her teacher," Sakura said flatly. She forced money into Koushi's hand for the seeds she'd picked out, glowering at him when he tried to duck his hand away. She'd gotten more free things out of him than purchased items and frankly, she was getting tired of his selfless generosity. He had a family to think of and she wasn't going to rob him of some hard-earned money. 

Koushi smiled indulgently. "Then why not humor her?"

"I'm not a teacher. And I don't want to train some commanding, snot-nosed brat."

"You _could_ be a teacher," He pushed. "You just don't want that responsibility for some reason. You may not realize it, but the people here really are grateful that you willingly give them what you grow for such little costs. It'll do you good to have another hand helping you." 

"They have a wonderful way of making that known," Sakura snipped, not fully believing the trader. They still came to her door shaking in fear and wide eyes and didn't hide their hurried steps to get away from her home. "I don't have the time to train someone on how to take care of each and every plant I'm growing anyway. The brat would do more damage than good." 

"But isn't that part of the training?" Koushi countered. "Apprentices are going to make mistakes before they progress." Sakura didn't like the knowing smirk on his lips. "Besides, didn't you tell me when we first met that every plant you grew for the first month died within days?"

His loud laughter followed Sakura as she stomped away from the cackling merchant. 

* * *

It was a month into the brat tailing her that she found a common ground the two shared and all it took was for her to see blood leaking from the kid's forehead one morning for a sudden protective urge to course through Sakura's body. She hadn't been quick enough to scramble away from Sakura's lightning-quick movement, pale and dirt-smudged fingers grasping an equally dirty face and tilting it up for her to see better. Violet eyes comically widened, freezing in place at the sudden breach of space. 

"That's a nasty gash," Sakura commented, eyes narrowed. It wasn't a horrendous wound, but Sakura could tell that it was deep, blood leaking trails steadily down chubby cheeks and caking the kid's hairline. "Where did you get it?" 

The kid scowled around Sakura's fingers and tried to put space between them. The tightening of the older girl's fingers made her pause and she glared bravely at Sakura. "Wouldn't you like to know," The girl snipped sarcastically. 

"I would actually," Sakura said, watching the girl blanch in surprise at her blunt honesty. "What happened?" 

Surprisingly, the girl's cheeks pouted around Sakura's fingers and she glanced away from her. "I tripped..." 

Green eyes twitched irritably and she gave the kid's chin a small shake to grab her attention again. "That's not a wound you'd get from falling, kid." She brought their faces closer, scrutinizing her until she started fidgeting under her hard stare. "That's something you'd get from having an object thrown at you." (Strange that she so easily came to that conclusion, but Sakura was more immersed into finding out who exactly would have the guts to hurt a little kid, no matter how annoying they were. She'd make them pay.)

Vulnerability was not something Sakura was accustomed to seeing on the normally fearless girl's face after a month straight of seeing nothing but stubbornness and confidence, but it was there clear as day and it tore at a part of her that such a young child could look at a complete stranger with such openness and hurt. Violet eyes started tearing up and this time, Sakura let her pull away to scrub a furious hand across her face to hide her weakness. 

"The villagers see me as a bad omen," She mumbled around her hands, scowling at the tears that continued to fall and mingle with the blood on her cheeks. "Before you came here, Hachiko was attacked by Hollows one day, which was strange to the people here because they'd never experienced such a tragedy. They tied the attack with my arrival and pinned it on me."

Sakura didn't know what the hell a Hollow was, but quite frankly, she found she didn't care at the moment. "And that warrants physical abuse on your person?" 

Pale lips pursed tightly in annoyance. "Souls are an extremely superstitious bunch and aren't always known for being friendly and welcoming to the unknown factors." 

Well, that was something that was going to change. Actions like that heated Sakura's blood to unnatural levels. 

(She'd been looking for ways to vent out the strange restlessness that haunted her day in and day out. No matter how busy she tried to be or how hard she pushed herself, the feeling never went away, eating away at what little sanity she felt she had. This would be a nice way to ease some of it.)

Beckoning her to follow, Sakura lead the reluctant girl into her home, pointing a demanding finger at the lone stool by the door and waiting for her to hesitantly sit down before scrounging around for spare bandages. More than once, she caught strange-colored eyes sweeping the hanging plants curiously, a hand reaching out to the one closest to her with twitching fingers and prodding at the red-orange buds. 

"What are these?" She asked. Sakura debated answering her before seeing no harm in indulging her just once. 

"Spider Lilies." 

"I've never heard of them," She said quietly, cocking her head. She met Sakura's neutral gaze, nose scrunching up at what was in her arms. Green eyes dared the brat to try and make an escape as she crouched down before her. 

"I'd be surprised if you had," Sakura said. "I was surprised Koushi even came across them."

"What do they mean?" She tensed at the green paste Sakura smeared across her forehead, hissing when her bloodied bangs tugged at the wound.

"What do you think they mean?" Sakura countered. She wasn't entertaining taking the girl on as an apprentice, but she had to admit that she was a little curious as to what her current plant knowledge was like. Pinning brown bangs back, Sakura slowly began winding bandages around the child's head.

Eyes narrowed, the girl took several minutes searching for an answer she most likely didn't know. Sakura gave her credit for at least seriously thinking through her no doubt limited options. She pulled spiky pigtails from underneath the wrap, careful not to tug too hard on the surprisingly thick hair. 

Heaving a sigh, the girl whispered, "I don't have an answer for you." Shame and embarrassment coated her tone. Sakura guessed it must've taken a lot of the kid's pride being sucked up to admit that she didn't know something. 

"Not even a guess?" 

"I don't like guessing," She said adamantly. "I'd rather be completely right than wrong and unsure." She sniffed experimentally when Sakura pulled away from her, making a face at the smell. "This stuff stinks." 

"Because it's Yarrow," Sakura said as if that was enough of an answer for the amateur before her. 

"What's that?" 

"You get one guess, kid." 

"How am I supposed to wash off all this blood when I have these on?" She whined instead, a hand groping to no doubt scratch at her head. Sakura didn't hesitate to slap the offending limb away, ignoring the snarl she got for it. 

"You're gonna have to change them anyway," Sakura informed. "Every day after you wake up for a week. Not too tight, otherwise the wound won't be able to breath and scab over properly, and not too loose cause that's just asking for whatever you're rolling in to get that cut infected." 

"It's not my fault I get so dirty! I have to make a living somehow!" She protested vehemently. 

"You look like you take a daily bath in the mud, kid." 

She narrowed her eyes. "I have a name, you know." 

Sakura crossed her arms, unimpressed. "You have yet to introduce yourself and quite frankly, I'm not interested in hearing your name after your rather rude behavior this past month." 

Her cheeks flushed red and she bared her teeth at the pink-haired girl. "You won't teach me!" She shriveled under the green flash that pinned her in place, tensing at the anger directed at her. 

"You'll come to find that being entitled won't get you anywhere with me, _kid_ ," Sakura said dangerously. "Don't mistake my generosity today as acceptance. I won't teach a brat who has no sense of respect." 

"I can be respectful!" She immediately assured. Sakura could see the hope kindling in those purple eyes and while she wasn't going to squash it with some harsh words, she certainly wasn't going to encourage that hope either just yet. 

_"You could be a teacher. You just don't want that responsibility for some reason."_

(Being a teacher for a child was one of the last things Sakura even wanted to entertain. Mostly because it brought up feelings of loss and pain and a loneliness so aching that it almost crippled her to think of.)

Maybe she was just running away from those feelings, but Sakura wasn't prepared to shoulder that kind of responsibility just yet, so she justified her running away by refusing to teach a brat who demanded everything and didn't know how to ask the right way. 

That didn't stop Sakura from pitying the small child who was shunned by the whole town for something that wasn't even her fault despite Sakura having no concrete proof of that claim. Her words had been honest and genuine, though, which was enough for the pink-haired girl to accept as truth. 

"Give me a chance!" The girl pleaded earnestly. "One chance! That's it, I swear. If I don't meet your demands, then I'll never bother you again!"

Their situations were too similar. Eerily so, but it was enough to change Sakura's mind just this once for her. 

"One chance, kid." 

She was given a relieved and joyous smile from a child that looked like she was barely in her teens. "My name's Harlow, not kid. Anura Harlow." 

* * *

It didn't take Sakura long to figure out just who liked to target Harlow so much. The guy had a nasty temper and he took it out on the more unruly kids who ignited his wrath. It helped that she'd encountered him before and had no reservations going after him again.

Maybe then he'd learn not to target little kids because he was pissed off that the world had done him so form of injustice. 

Masamune Rin walked out of his home early one morning to run some errands and blanched at the nearly unidentifiable body that lay moaning at his doorstep. And stabbed into his right hand was a silver knife and a blood-stained letter. 

While her actions warranted some form of discipline, Sakura never got into trouble and neither did anyone acknowledge the unnecessary amount of damage she'd done to the now exiled man. 

* * *

She pushed Harlow to the brink of exhaustion most days. 

Sakura refused to hold back since she was so determined to prove herself worthy of Sakura's attention and she was rewarded with Harlow's tremendous leaps and bounds of progress. She threw all kinds of plant terminology at the kid, regardless if she knew the meanings of the words she used, and it was silently acknowledged that if Harlow didn't understand something, she would ask for help only if she couldn't find a means of understanding it herself. 

Maybe it was a tough love kind of teaching, but Harlow grasped concepts quicker that way and so Sakura never changed it. 

(It was very similar to how she had been trained before, except Sakura's was way more hands on and physical than what she was doing with Harlow.)

Actually taking care of the plants was a whole different story that frustrated Sakura in the beginning, but eventually came to accept.

Harlow had no natural instinct for tending to the plants. At all. She could easily recite the exact care of any plant Sakura pointed to, but for some reason, actually applying that knowledge to the real thing eluded her. Plants shriveled under her hands and even when Sakura jumped in to try and save them, it was shown to be pointless in the end. They'd lost a lot of common plants in the process. Sakura didn't dare allow Harlow anywhere near the more complex ones like the Scurvy Grass and Yarrow after seeing the destruction she could accidentally cause.

Upon seeing the disheartened look on her charge's face, Sakura switched tactics and decided Harlow would be the one to tend to customers, which was a gamble in and of itself with all the rumors flying about her.

_And that's where Sakura began noticing the progress Harlow was making._

Despite killing everything she touches with seemingly no effort, Harlow had no issues talking to the villagers who came to Sakura's home. It was obvious they preferred the scrawny kid over Sakura, so it was no real loss for Sakura to avoid conversations with them. Rather it was a huge weight being taken off her shoulders so that she wouldn't have to see wide eyes and shaking limbs. 

Harlow proved to Sakura constantly that she had been listening and absorbing her blunt lessons, explaining different remedies and properties with ease when asked about them and how effective they were. She mostly stuck to the basics Sakura had ingrained into her head since the basics was where everything started, though sometimes, when Harlow was comfortable with what plants were being requested, she would mix up what Sakura would normally give out and offer up mixtures that were just as effective, if not being a bit more expensive. 

Sakura was starting to believe the kid truly was a con artist as said kid proudly held up a bulging bag of that day's coins. 

"You're a swindler, you know that?" Sakura had accused, staring at the bag. 

Harlow snorted. "Hardly. I just know how desperate some of these people are." 

Harlow hadn't completely forgiven the villagers for basically making her a pariah for something out of her control, but she was at least civil with them and had a somewhat polite smile to give when they came knocking. Sakura wondered if they could hear the barbed meanings underlining her words whenever Harlow spoke. It didn't matter, though, because Sakura had no intentions of bring it to their attention. Harlow was only a child and they had ostracized her to a dangerous level that spelled death if she hadn't had the means of taking care of herself. 

Finding out Harlow had been living on the streets for a little over a year had been a bitter pill for Sakura to swallow during her first week of teaching. She didn't like having her space encroached on, but she couldn't rightfully throw her back out at the end of the day knowing what she knew. Harlow had been overwhelmed when Sakura told her she was living with her from now on and to make herself comfortable wherever she wanted in the house. 

She'd hesitantly asked with wet eyes if she could sleep in Sakura's room. She didn't have the heart to deny her. 

(Again, she thought of blond hair and blue eyes. She had the vague feeling that this situation felt very familiar, but she could never pinpoint why. Her heart warmed every time she thought of those exotic features, though, which was enough to set her mind at ease.)

Despite her swindling methods, the two were able to live comfortably with what they now earned. Money didn't particularly matter to Sakura as it wasn't that important to her, but she was still grateful for the effort Harlow put in to make sure they wouldn't struggle. 

It was at the end of their first month together that Harlow asked a request instead of outright demanding it. Sakura was pleased that the obnoxious brat was learning some form of manners while living with her. 

"Sakura?" She hummed, acknowledging the teen as they did a final round for the night before bed. The sun had long ago set and the full moon beamed brilliant white beams down on their flourishing garden. Harlow shifted uncomfortably, wringing her hands tightly. "Can you possibly..." She trailed off, unsure. 

Sakura graced her with a curious glance. "What is it?" When Harlow still continued to stutter with her words, Sakura waved a hand. "Just say it, Harlow. Don't beat around the bush." 

"Will you teach me how to fight?" She blurted out. 

Sakura blinked, surprised. While not the most outrageous request she could've made, it was the least expected one Sakura would've thought to come from her. Had she seen her little stunt with her abuser? "How to fight? Why?" 

Harlow seemed to close in on herself, clenching her fists at her side and glaring at the ground. Something weighed heavily on her and Sakura hadn't realized until that moment that she didn't really know Harlow much. Just her name. She wondered what kind of baggage the girl could be caring for such animosity and loathing to saturate the very air around her. 

"I couldn't do anything back then," She whispered angrily. "Back at home when those thugs would bang on our door. Here in Hachiko when everyone attacked me. I can't even keep up with you." Sakura couldn't decide if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment. Violet eyes desperately met green ones, conveying a whole range of emotions Sakura could barely keep up with. Desperation. Anger. Fear. Self-loathing. _Revenge._ "I want to be able to fight for myself. I don't want to die like all those other weak Souls." 

She had every right to ask, but still, Sakura hesitated to give her what she wanted. 

(She didn't like that look in Harlow's eyes at the time. It left a bitter taste on her tongue and every nerve in her body screamed that she had to deter Harlow from that path. It would only end in misery and blood and she didn't want that for her.)

So Sakura gave a vague answer, which left Harlow visibly unsatisfied and unfulfilled. "We'll see. One thing at a time for now." 

* * *

Sakura met her first Soul Reaper a few weeks later. She'd taken Harlow into the market that day, teaching her how to barter with the traders and what to look for in their merchandise. What was good and what wasn't. What was a fair trade. How to read between the lines. To get one's way with the more greedy ones. Harlow picked it up at a good pace, but was still struggling with the last lesson. Being so young, she didn't exactly command attention or make successful demands like Sakura did. 

Though Sakura didn't say it was because her cold gaze made any man made of steel bend against their will. Harlow would have to learn that trick of the trade when she was older and not so child-faced. 

"Stay away from that one," Sakura warned, seeing Harlow keenly eyeing a jewelry stand. "You have no need for that stuff."

"But they're so pretty," Harlow objected quietly, scratching at her forehead. There was a barely there scar, thin and somewhat jagged, that could only be seen in direct sunlight. Harlow was proud of it for some reason, though she often complained about how itchy it always was. 

"They're valuables that will sit by your bed unused unless under rare occasions. It's a waste of money and said occasions will never happen here in Hachiko." 

Harlow pouted. "We have the money to spare. Why can't I splurge just a bit?" 

Here Sakura gave Harlow her first piece of wisdom that followed her into her second life. "I'd rather you learn to be prepared for the unexpected than to live in the moment. Just because it looks pretty now doesn't mean it'll last." 

"You're so serious," Harlow whined, but dutifully turned away. 

"I'm being practical. Besides, the colder months will be coming up soon. We need to get you warmer clothes so you don't freeze." Sakura had spent a quarter of the money they'd stored away just to get a whole new wardrobe for the teen. Her old yukata was beyond salvaging and the smell coming off it was less than desirable, so she'd pitched it despite the protests from Harlow. 

It was a miracle and a half Harlow had survived the past winter with that flimsy piece of protection. 

"Your clothes aren't very suited for the cold," Harlow pointed out, fingering the navy blue sleeve of her newest yukata Sakura had purchased for her a scant two days ago. Harlow had asked Sakura once why she wore form-fitting pants and shirts, but the only answer she'd received was that they were easier to move in. 

(Form-fitting clothes were a thing from Sakura's past life. They had to be. Sakura had taken one look at the restricting yukatas that were always on display in Hachiko, turned her nose up at them, and proceeded to buy multiple sets of working clothes instead of the feminine outfits predominately worn here.)

"I have thicker outfits than this," Sakura stated primly. Harlow rolled her eyes and let the subject drop. 

They ran into a crowd of Souls as they were beginning to leave. Sakura couldn't make out their whispers, but frowned at the obvious unease they projected. It was the same feeling she felt whenever they were around her. 

"What's going on?" Harlow asked, standing on her tiptoes. "Why is everyone stopped right here?" 

"I'm not sure," Sakura said, urging Harlow to follow her. "Let's go around." Harlow hurried after the taller girl, sticking close to her back as they weaved around the growing mass. They had just made it the edge of the crowd when they suddenly parted before the two girls, revealing a rather imposing figure that paused before them. 

Sakura only took notice of the gleaming silver-white hair and white haori before she froze mid-step, Harlow bumping into her back and muttering choice words under her breath at the sudden halt. 

This man was a _threat_. She could _feel_ his strength and power coating his body like a second skin and she wanted him _gone_. To get out of Hachiko and never return. 

(As her training would progress many years later, she'd admit to overreacting to the Captain's presence. Her old life had taught her to be extremely suspicious of anyone who flaunted such power so casually, but she'd learn that he hadn't been doing it to get a rise out of her or to threaten anyone. He had such a tight control of his Spiritual Pressure, but her Spiritual Perception had just been so _sensitive_ at the time that she took it as him trying to _crush her_.)

Pale eyebrows arched above brown eyes. "Excuse me." His voice was deep, short and clipped that was borderline rude and Sakura's hackles raised. 

"You're excused," She said crossly, ushering Harlow back only a half-step. The girl blinked at Sakura's tone, eyebrows disappearing into her bangs. Gasps echoed around them, along with hasty shuffling movements that kicked up dirt. 

The man's eye visibly twitched and a muscle jumped in his neck. Sakura tensed, prepared to do _something_ should he try anything, but he simply scoffed and edged around the shorter girl, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye as he passed. His white haori brushed against Sakura's front and she resisted the urge to snatch it. 

"What was that about?" Harlow demanded, coming around Sakura's side to peer at her with narrowed eyes. "Why were you so hostile to that Captain? Do you know him or something?" 

He was a Captain? Captain of what? Did Rukongai have its own police force? 

Sakura ignored Harlow, instead turning towards the closest villager, who quailed under the frostiness of her gaze. "What did he want from Hachiko?" 

"J-Just information about the disappearances," He stuttered. "They're getting closer to us, y-you see, s-so he was just saying to keep a look out for any strange behavior." 

Sakura hoped that was the last time anyone with that much power would show up, but her eyes were drawn to the spiky silver hair as the tall man disappeared down the path towards the 29th District. Her last view she'd ever get from that particular Captain for many, _many_ years to come was the black Kanji for 9 on his back. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death gained a whole new meaning when I was given the chance for a second life. "From now on, I alone will stand at the top." Eyes narrowed, my reply came almost instantly. "Then I guess we'll have to drag you back to the bottom where you belong."

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Bleach. 

* * *

**It's All His Fault.**

_Chapter T.H.R.E.E._

_"Defense"_

 _"Offense wins games, but defense wins championships."_ -Becky Novacek

* * *

_"When will you hear my voice, oh quiet one? I've been calling you for so long, yet you do not even twitch at my voice."_

* * *

"How many times do I have to tell you," Sakura growled as she stomped towards the stiffening ash-haired merchant's stall, "to wear a damn jacket, Sawamura?!" 

"Oh, my favorite customer!" Koushi greeted shakily, baring his teeth in a chittering smile and his arms wrapped tightly around his kimono-clad front. He shrunk under the thunderous look Sakura gave him, accepting the thick cloak Sakura had recently bought upon seeing Koushi's state of dress. "Now, Sakura, there's no need for such a—" 

"It's not supposed to be my job to make sure you are prepared for these cold travels to Hachiko, Sawamura," Sakura interrupted, voice glacial. "So why is it that every time I see you come through, you're ill prepared?" 

Koushi didn't even have the courage to attempt a lie with this woman. "Sorry, my friend. A lot of my colleagues don't have the fortunes to pay for thicker clothing, so I gave them the majority of what winter clothes I own."

She hated that side of Koushi. He was so kind, so gentle, and always so very caring. Strangers were friends in his mind and the idea of one of them suffering put the sweet man in a fit. She knew he knew he was being taken advantage of and it infuriated the girl that he continued to let it happen. 

(Part of her wished Koushi would open his eyes to cruelty that the world was capable of. The other part vehemently wanted him to remain the kindly merchant who always looked out for her and treated her like she was one of his own.)

"That's on them, Sawamura," Sakura sighed, pinching her nose. "Don't let them take advantage of you like that or I'll have words with your wife again."

"Now, now, there's no need for that," Koushi laughed, albeit nervously. Sakura was very satisfied that he still had a healthy fear of his wife after the last ass chewing he got when Sakura warned her about Koushi's golden heart. "I promise to be more wary. There's no need to involve Tomoko again." 

(She also wished she'd involved Tomoko again at that time, but the past was the past no matter how much Sakura wished she could change it.)

Sakura jerked a pointed finger at his cloak. "I bought that for you with my hard earned money, so if I see it on someone that isn't you, Tomoko, or your kids, you'll be temporarily out of business after I break all the bones in your arms and legs."

Chuckling, Koushi nodded his head agreeably. "Alright, alright, I promise." Looking around, he changed the subject. "Where's Harlow? I'm surprised she's not with you today. She always comes to see me when we come in." 

"She's running errands for me," Sakura said, pulling the ends of her own cloak closer to her chest to ward off the winter chill. It was her older one with bad frays at the end and rips in the shoulders. It needed to be replaced, but winter was almost over, so living out the last life of this cloak wouldn't kill her too much until next winter came around.

"Oh?" Koushi beamed happily. "Finally trust her to do things on her own again? Has Masamune forgiven her for that last transgression?" 

"Hardly," Sakura snorted. Just recalling the human-shaped hole in the side of a house was beginning to give Sakura a small headache. "She's technically supposed to be on forced house arrest, but she was irritating me with her whining and pacing, so I set her loose again to get some peace." 

"How professional of you," Koushi deadpanned. 

Winter was reluctant to leave Hachiko this year. Despite it being close to spring and the snow melting into the hard ground, the air still held a chilly winter wind to it and prevented Sakura from planting her spring and summer plants like she normally would this time of year. She'd decided a long time ago that she wasn't a terribly big fan of the cold season and wished it was always warm instead of this white wasteland of nothingness and frozen water.

"She's learning," Sakura dismissed. "It's good for her." She cocked her head. "Do you have any new winter plants by chance?" 

"I do not," Koushi denied, but ever one to please his favorite customer, he pulled out a well-preserved stash of what smelled like Yarrow. Sakura beamed like she'd just been told it was round two of Christmas. "However, I do have these for you since you told me last month how much Harlow was getting hurt." 

"You're amazing, Sawamura," Sakura praised, shoving money down the front of his kimono before he could say no and eagerly accepted the plants as the man jumped at the cold change sliding down his front. "I'm pretty sure I'm almost out, too, until the plants are fully bloomed, so this helps out a lot." 

"I've told you to call me Koushi," He mock scolded, stooping to pick up the money that had finally fallen out of his clothes. "You've known me for a long time now. We're friends." 

Sakura gave him an apologetic smile that was more genuine compared to when he first made the offer. "Sorry, force of habit. I'll remember it now, I swear." Koushi rolled his eyes and waved Sakura goodbye as she left. 

Sakura lost count of how many days, months, and years had passed. Somewhere along the way, she'd stopped marking the tallies on her bedroom walls, too wrapped up in what poultices needed to be made that day, what Harlow still needed to learn, and so much else. If Sakura hadn't of known she was the one marking her walls, she'd had thought a wild animal had somehow gotten in and found her bedroom walls to be particularly offensive. 

Seasons came and went, her and Harlow easily adjusting to the different temperatures thanks to the good stash of money they'd managed to save to constantly switch out worn clothes for new ones. Her theory on age was slowly being confirmed. Aging was slowed here. Time did not drain her faster of energy and as far as she could feel, her skin was still smooth of wrinkles and sags. The only thing that grew was her hair, the ends just grazing the backs of her thighs. Harlow found real joy in braiding the long, thick strands and Sakura didn't deny her that simple pleasure despite hating having Harlow sit behind her.

(She debated numerous times on chopping off the long strands. The added weight felt wrong, but she always stopped herself for whatever mysterious reasons she could think of.)

Nothing about the villagers' attitudes had changed, which didn't really shock her. She was still looked upon warily by everyone, but things were going smoothly. Or as smooth as she could hope for. 

She'd only been home less than ten minutes and starting her daily task of watering her inside plants when the door opened and slammed closed and Harlow stormed in, nursing a black eye and a busted lip. 

(She wished Harlow would stop coming home from her outings covered in injuries, but she was quickly running out of threats to use on the villagers. She supposed she could just kill them since that was the only thing she hadn't done, but something told her that wasn't the way to go.)

"What happened now?" Sakura sighed, pausing in watering her hanging plants. The Spider Lilies were a bit desperate for water, but Sakura figured they could wait a little bit as she put down her water can and approached Harlow to examine her face. 

"I kicked up too much dust in the square walking and that warranted this," She spat, pointing at her lip and eye. Sakura waved her towards an open stool and Harlow slumped down into the offered seat, bloody lip jutting out in a pout. 

"Did you do it on purpose again?" 

"No," Harlow denied forcefully. Sakura arched an eyebrow, which made the younger girl sputter indignantly. "I didn't! I'd just finished that last delivery and tripped over someone's foot!"

There was only so much Masamune Rin could do to quell these attacks on Harlow's person and Sakura couldn't be tailing the girl for every errand she ran or nothing would get done at home. Banishment only did so much and Hachiko was at the point where no one else _could_ be sent away. The small district was kept afloat by the traders and a fair few had already stopped showing up because their best customers were nowhere to be found. (Sakura took a silent sadistic glee in that thought because those customers didn't deserve to be in the peaceful Hachiko.)

But the fact of the matter was that Hachiko was losing business and that needed to be rectified. 

Harlow's attitude could also use a one eighty, but that was an argument Sakura had gave up on giving the girl a long time ago. 

"Did you have any issues before this beating?" Sakura asked. She frowned at how much Yarrow was left in the sealed jars they stored in the kitchen, grabbing the last jar with a resigned heave, but feeling grateful Koushi had given her a fresh supply. She'd have to start storing them as soon as possible to keep them from wilting.

"That pregnant Soul certainly had an issue with me delivering her that pain medicine, but was quite happy enough to slam the door in my face after paying me," Harlow informed mockingly. 

"Were you rude to her?" Harlow refused to meet Sakura's eyes at that question. "Harlow, you can't be disrespectful to everyone like that," Sakura sighed. "You get away with it with me, but the villagers are different. Didn't you learn this lesson already?" 

"They don't deserve my respect!" Harlow insisted stubbornly. 

"Maybe not, but you'd come home with less blood coating your face," Sakura rebutted, rubbing the now Yarrow paste between her fingers. The consistency was off, but Sakura didn't have a lot to work with, so it would have to do. She didn't want to mix an old stash with a brand new one and cause any possible discrepancies. 

"Somehow I doubt that." 

"Maybe I should be the one doing these outings and you should stay here," Sakura offered, crouching down before the now taller girl. She'd hit a growth spurt a while ago and was now just a hair taller than Sakura, but it still warranted new yukatas that would actually cover her ankles and wrists. 

"No way," Harlow protested. "I can still do them. I'll just have to be more careful." 

"You are being careful," Sakura noted drily, dabbing at Harlow's busted lip. She'd make Harlow pick the rest of the Yarrow herbs from their pots in the kitchen before bed so she could store more if she was going to continue returning with bloody wounds. "And that's the problem. Eventually your luck is going to run out." 

"Aren't you the positive one today." Harlow yelped when Sakura pressed harder against her lip, some of the poultice slipping into her mouth and causing the girl to gag violently around the unpleasant taste. She snatched the rag from Sakura's hand and angrily wiped away the blood on her chin, revealing the angry split in her lip. It would bruise horribly over the next couple days. 

"I'm being serious."

"So am I," Harlow insisted vehemently, voice raspy. "I can do this for you, Sakura. I can." 

"I don't doubt that, kid," Sakura sighed exasperatedly as she frowned at Harlow's eye. She couldn't really do much for her other than pressing something cold against it to make the swelling go down. It would have to heal naturally. (Part of her despised that she couldn't heal all of the girl's injuries right then and there. She wished she could do _more_.) "I'm just saying that maybe we should think of an alternative way for you to come home without looking like this every single day." 

"It's not every day," Harlow denied under her breath. Sakura rolled her eyes as she stood, grabbing a clean towel from under the sink and thrusting it into her watering can. The cold water stung the skin of her warm hand, quickly numbing it until she could barely feel it. 

If there was one thing Sakura couldn't stand about Harlow most days, it was that she was too damn proud for her own good. Sakura knew it was a blow to her pride for Harlow to ask for help, but she wished Harlow didn't feel like she couldn't go to Sakura if things got too hard. They'd been together for well over what Sakura assumed to be at least thirty years. Shouldn't that warrant some form of trust between the two? 

"It might as well be," Sakura retorted, slapping the towel against Harlow's eye. Harlow gave an aggravated hiss and swatted Sakura away, glowering at her from under the messy brown bangs she'd cut herself. There was that look in her eyes again and Sakura mentally braced herself. 

"This wouldn't be an issue if you'd just teach me how to fight." 

(Sakura sometimes wondered if Harlow's dangerous thoughts of revenge kept their bond from taking that next step.)

And that was another thing Sakura couldn't compromise on with the girl. Teaching Harlow to fight. Thirty years of being together and Sakura continuously refused to teach Harlow how to properly fight. Maybe it was a lesson from her previous life, but Sakura wouldn't pass on what her body naturally knew how to do to someone who was going to use it for something as ridiculous as revenge. She'd had no issue throwing that argument at Harlow and that had erupted into the first screaming match of many the two would get into every time the topic was brought up. 

Sakura was all for self-defense training. Revenge didn't fit into that equation and it never would for her. (And every time she even heard that damned word, all she could think of was dark hair and even darker eyes that were tumultuous at best and downright hysteric at worst.)

Harlow was all for hunting and exterminating with said training. Sakura couldn't very well allow Harlow to abuse her training to such a degree, especially if it would just push her further into those dangerous thoughts. 

(But Sakura was rapidly growing tired of this ever demanding challenge with Harlow.)

"I've told you my answer, Harlow," Sakura said coldly, the temperature in the room steadily growing chilly with Sakura's mounting ire and flashing green eyes. (Harlow later described to Sakura during their lessons that Sakura was always exerting such an _enormous_ amount of pressure whenever she was truly angry that it felt like a huge boulder had fallen onto her shoulders. It was so hard to _breath_ during those confrontations.) "It's not going to change whenever you ask me after long periods of time." 

Much to Sakura's chagrin, Harlow stormed out of the house after that conversation and wasn't seen for many days. She came home on the tenth day with bloody knuckles and a dislocated shoulder that Sakura harshly reset as punishment for her no doubt stupid fight and let the angry girl stew in her frustration for the next couple weeks.

* * *

_The smell of sanitation was getting old to her senses. It used to induce mind-blowing headaches, but now it hardly even bothers her anymore. Though today it noticeably didn't faze her because she just lost someone right on a hospital bed._

_The door closing behind her was like the echoing of a death toll. A hand squeezed her shoulders, nails gently scratching the bare skin. She noted they were impeccably painted a nice red color._

_"There was nothing that you could've done," A female voice soothed into her ear. "No amount of healing could've fully stopped his progression and he knew that._ You _know that."_

 _"I know," Sakura whispered softly. Tears pricked at her eyes and her chest constricted painfully. "He was the sixth."_ _She hated that she kept count, but Sakura felt like it was the least she could do for being unable to do more._

_"You're just starting out," The voice said firmly, retreating away from the distraught girl. "Those six deaths were a long time coming for those terminally ill patients. Wait until the battlefield to start keeping count."_

_"Yes, ma'am," Sakura said, sniffling and wiping away her wet cheeks.  
_

_There was a sigh. "What does it mean to be a healer, Sakura?" The voice was getting hard to understand, but Sakura's mouth moved as if she heard it clear as crystal._

_"To put our patients' lives before our own."_

_For some reason, Sakura got the feeling that her answer got a smile from the feminine voice. "I meant what does it mean to you."_

_Her answer came quickly regardless of the different insinuation. "It keeps my friends alive." She paused before adding quietly, "And so that they can be with their friends for another day."_

_Which felt wrong to say because she just lost someone in the room right behind her._

_"How utterly selfless of you," The voice snorted, but not rudely. Sakura felt like this was a conversation they'd had multiple times already. "When did your goals change?"_

_"Change how?" Sakura asked, confused. They'd changed? Since when?_

_"Didn't you want to bring— _" Her voice cut out and Sakura drew a blank.__

* * *

_"Open your mind to me, quiet one. When will you begin to hear my voice?"_

* * *

Spring was finally making a grand reappearance in the form of grandiose rainstorms that thoroughly prevented Sakura and Harlow from tending to their garden. Harlow had wordlessly pulled a tarp over it the first day it had started to rain, but after the third day, Sakura figured it was time to suck it up and make sure the plants weren't being drowned.

"You want to go outside? Now?" Harlow asked incredulously as she watched Sakura pull a cloak around her body. "It's pouring out there!" 

"It's no different than me making you go outside when we were having that bad blizzard two months ago," Sakura said simply. "Rain, snow, or not, we have to make sure the plants can be salvaged or we'll have to start all over. I don't particularly want to do that this early in the year."

"We're gonna get sick," Harlow complained. 

Sakura arched a challenging eyebrow. "You can walk around with fractured knuckles and a dislocated shoulder, but you're going to be beat by a little cold?" Harlow glared at the cloak Sakura stretched out to her. "Take the cloak and let's go. That's me as your teacher demanding you go out with me." 

Grumbling, Harlow swiped the cloak and roughly tossed it around her shoulders, glowering at Sakura from underneath the hood's shadow as they made their way outside. "Why go so far for a bunch of plants?"

"It's our business, kid," Sakura said, glancing up. It wasn't raining as bad as she'd originally thought. The cloaks might've been a little overkill, but Sakura kept silent and began the arduous task of pulling the tarp off their bigger garden. It had grown from the small patch it began at to roughly the length of Sakura's modest-sized hut. Harlow had told Sakura many times that she was proud of how big it had gotten and how much variety was sitting in their backyard. Sakura was silently proud, too, though she hid it at the time by expanding their fence to encompass the whole garden.

"I know that," Harlow said. She helped Sakura lift the tarp up and toss it away, revealing their blooming stalks of herbs and flowers. And the array of weeds that seemed to grow overnight, which had Harlow scowling. "I meant health-wise. You keep going and going and going and never seem to stop. You do know that we have enough money saved up that we could live without working for a long time, right?"

"It gives me something to do," Was all Sakura said. "Start pulling those weeds out. I want to get this done before the weather gets worse." 

Harlow released a foul curse and stomped her way to the other side of the garden. Sakura didn't misunderstand the distance between them for what it was. Things had yet to amend themselves between the two and Sakura refused to verbally acknowledge that obvious tension. "You must've been a real slave driver in your past life, you know that?" 

"I wouldn't say that," Sakura muttered under her breath.

Unbidden to Sakura, she once again tried to pull out instances of her past life to no avail.

Images of blond hair and blue eyes, the back of a green haori, stone faces carved into the side of a mountain, and the few other things that came to her in dreams were all she had to draw back on. She relied solely on those moments of sleep where her mind would subconsciously draw her back in time to refresh what she forgot, but they were becoming few and far between. It left her feeling more empty than she had felt when she'd first came to Hachiko. And more anger to build up over the years.

It had been like that for awhile, especially as the years raced by and she'd made no progress. Her memories were fading and they were fading fast. What used to be hazes of blurry figures and the echoing of faint voices was quickly becoming void to Sakura and it childishly infuriated her to the point of destroying a section of the fencing in a fit of rage. 

(Sakura was only a little ashamed that it wasn't the first time she'd done that when trying to remember her first life.)

"I was just kidding," Harlow muttered. "And you say my temper is bad." 

"It is bad," Sakura snapped automatically. She froze at the bite in her words and forced herself to breath through the anger that burned her body.

How hypocritical of her to criticize Harlow for her attitude when she had a good one of her own. 

"At least I don't destroy fences. Did that make you feel better?" Harlow asked, viciously ripping a weed out of the ground. A harsh exhale escaped Sakura's throat and she angrily swiped at her bangs. 

"I don't understand," Sakura said angrily. "Why can't I remember anything? It's all right there, just at my fingertips, but I can never truly _see it_."

"We're Souls," Harlow said simply. She sat up from her hunched position, folding her hands in her lap with the weeds still clutched in her dirty hands and an almost forlorn look entering her eyes. "We died and then we lived again. This is our second chance. Why remember all the mistakes we made when we can just start over?" 

"The emptiness doesn't bother you?" Sakura wondered. That feeling of constantly forgetting something heated Sakura's blood to unnatural levels. She was learning new things about herself every single day, but who was she as a person if she couldn't remember living the first time around? That was where all of her memories were. Her normal habits, likes, dislikes, hobbies, all of it was lost in the darkness of her mind. She felt like a fake copy of what she possibly was before. 

Was she truly like this now compared to when she was alive? Was she the same person or was she two different people split from one? 

Above all that, just remembering her time being alive was important to her. She had friends and family and she couldn't even remember their faces, much less their names. Wouldn't that bother anybody not knowing who they were and how they were connected to other people?

She didn't believe not a single person in Rukongai didn't wonder the same thing she currently was. 

"It did," Harlow admitted easily. Brown eyes cut to hers from underneath choppy bangs, acceptance clearly visible, but also a deep sadness that would never go away. "But I got over it. I had to and you should as well." Harlow blinked and looked away from the sharp green eyes that seared a hole into her. "Dwelling over being alive never does a Soul good. It'll drive you insane, you'll want answers nobody can give you, and then you'll be disappointed when every possible method of finding said answers runs dry." 

"I assume you tried?" Sakura asked bitingly. 

Harlow glared at her, scowling. "Of course I have. Everyone here has tried seeking those answers, but unless you're a Soul Reaper, you won't ever be able to come close to those answers." 

A memory of the brutish thug of a man jumped to the forefront of Sakura's mind. The white haori with the kanji for 9 on his back. 

"What exactly even is a Soul Reaper?" 

By the pursing of Harlow's lips, Sakura easily assumed she wasn't fond of them. "They're supposed to be our guardians. They govern the flow of Souls from the World of the Living and Rukongai. They're like peacekeepers, I guess." 

"Peacekeepers?" Sakura parroted. "For what? Unlawful disputes?" 

"Not really," Harlow said slowly after pausing to think about it. "It's part of their job description, but really, they just eradicate the Hollows that creep into the Districts. They don't do much else. They're mainly stationed in the World of the Living, so it's rare to see them patrolling around here." 

"World of the Living? Hollows?" Harlow gave an aggravated sigh. 

"I am the wrong person to be explaining this," She grumbled. "It's hard to explain because Souls who live in Rukongai never leave it. We have no reason to go back to the World of the Living, but even if we could, there's no way for us to get there unless we become a Soul Reaper."

It felt like anything that involved more than a peaceful and day to day life was accessible by becoming a Soul Reaper to Sakura, but she had to wonder why that was. Clearly there was special privileges being thrown around, but she wondered what she had to do to get those privileges without becoming an _officer_. She remembered the pressure she'd felt around the white-haired Captain, how heavy his very presence was, and the effect it'd had on her. 

She didn't want to be around others like that. She could acknowledge that she was strangely paranoid about the silliest of things, but that paranoia only extended so far and it was practically screaming at her that being surrounded by people with such presences was not something that would be good for her health. 

"And Hollows?"

"I don't know what they are," Harlow muttered. "No one will tell me. They just show up randomly and devour any Soul who crosses their path. They're always hungry, I think. It's why they're always popping up here. There's so much Spiritual Pressure in Rukongai, it draws them like moths to a flame."

The silence that followed was only mildly uncomfortable, but the previous anger radiating off Harlow had dimmed to something inward and more contemplative. Sakura wondered what the girl was thinking about to have her nose scrunch up so much in such a short span of time, but she had a lot to think about, too.

Hollows? They sounded like beasts to her. She'd never seen one in her over thirty years of living in Hachiko. Harlow had once said she'd been framed for the appearance of a Hollow in Hachiko before Sakura had arrived and figured it was safe enough to assume that they were greatly feared by the Souls. For just a split second, an anxious fear had glassed over brown eyes before it was squashed when she talked about them. Hollows didn't bring pleasant memories and that was something Sakura was confident of despite her lack of seeing one.

Spiritual Pressure? She had no idea what that was. Koushi had once mentioned how Souls were nothing more than Spiritual Pressure compacted together to give them forms and appearances, but clearly there was more to it than that. Spiritual Pressure drew in Hollows, so Sakura wondered what about her new body potentially drew hungry beasts to her. 

World of the Living? She hovered over that particular one. World meant a different plane of existence and living meant alive. Real people. Not Souls who had met their ends once and were giving life a second go. Would it be so farfetched to think that the World of the Living was the same place as her home? 

"There's all kinds of people in Rukongai," Harlow suddenly said, disrupting Sakura's thought process. She jumped at her voice, startled. "Not one Soul is the same despite similarities being shown." Brown eyes lacked the animosity that normally clouded them whenever Sakura met her eyes lately, but were instead calm and looking to drive a point home. "Despite that, we all came from the same place. There's only the World of the Living and Rukongai." 

Sakura could read between the lines and she didn't like the dread that was starting to chill her body. "How do you know that?" 

"Because it's always been that way. There's only two planes here. Where you're sitting now and the only other world that exists. Do you remember those clothes you were wearing when you arrived?" Of course Sakura did. Bloody and torn and beyond saving, but she still kept them hoarded away in her room safe from prying eyes. "Those were very old-fashioned, a different time period I'd wager. It'd been almost two decades into the 20th century when I first died. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" 

Sakura did. The numbers swirled around and around in her head and cold realization was all she felt as she excused herself from her blank-faced student and slowly walked into the woods to find an escape. That didn't mean she had to like it, though. 

* * *

_"Such cold words coming from someone with such an aching and lonely heart. You cannot appease everyone, oh quiet one, and it's time you learned that. But you have to let me in first. What is my name?"_

* * *

Sakura hadn't sensed him coming. _At all._ One second she'd been walking the path back home from the market with a still silent Harlow and then the next...

_He was there._

"I finally found ya," He trilled cheerily. Shivers _raced_ down Sakura's spine and Harlow's eyes bulged, sensing the same heaviness that she did. Harlow _whimpered_ and raced to Sakura's back, clutching her kimono with white fingers and crouching to hide her taller height.

He was tall and long-limbed. _Skeletal almost._ Silver hair and closed eyes belied the sly grin on the man's face, looking for all the world like the cat finally caught the canary he'd been chasing. It wasn't an _inaccurate_ description, but Sakura didn't like the feeling of being prey to this particular man. Then she took in his attire. 

An all black ensemble, a single sword attached to his hip, and a band around his left forearm that Sakura couldn't quite see from the distance that separated them. She imagined a white haori around him and _knew_ he had to be a Soul Reaper. 

"Took me so long, I was wonderin' if the Research Department was pullin' my leg," He said, approaching them. His unnerving smile never left his face and Sakura had never felt such a strong feeling of _worry_ and _fear_ over a harmless looking man like him. She couldn't beat this one to bloody pulp like she did the others. She didn't know how she came to that conclusion, but her tricks wouldn't save her this time. 

"Stay back!" She snapped. She stood more solidly in front of her scared out of her wits charge and hoped her icy glare would freeze the man into stopping. He did pause, but the cocking of his head told Sakura that he was only doing it to humor her. His grin irritated her. "Who are you?" She demanded. 

His grin seemed to widen. "Ya stole my line, girlie," He teased. "Shouldn't ya be the one makin' the introductions?" 

Sakura actually bared her teeth at him, entirely unamused. "Hardly if you're the one searching for me. Answer me!" 

He had the _audacity_ to laugh at her. "Ya got claws, that's for sure! I was kinda expectin' that, but I didn't think it'd be like this." He waved a vague hand at her. She felt his attention shift to Harlow and she actually snarled at him, silently demanding him to keep his eyes off what was her's. Harlow tensed more against her back, surprised, before burrowing herself closer to the older girl. She'd understood that implication loud and clear.

(And that was a weird thought to Sakura because she'd never outright claimed Harlow as her own. It was sort of just implied, but actively shielding her kind of just sealed the deal that Harlow was under her wing and Sakura wouldn't tolerate any harm coming to her.) 

"You have three seconds to tell me who you are before I throttle you," Sakura said lowly, clenching her fists at her side. 

"Sakura," Came Harlow's murmur, but she was quickly shushed and ordered to stay quiet. 

"I'm not here for a fight, girlie," The man said lightly. He wasn't fazed by her threat and Sakura felt sweat bead at her forehead. This was a fight she was definitely going to lose and she had no idea how to get out of it other than physical violence. She _didn't_ want to hear what he had to say and she most definitely _didn't_ want to be involved with a Soul Reaper as mocking and so quietly confident as this one. She almost preferred the Captain she'd met oh so long ago. He would at least match her short temper and biting expressions. 

"I'll believe that when I see it." All she got from that attempt at a rise was that same wide smile and closed eyes. Sakura mentally started counting down. 

_Three..._

She ushered Harlow back a step, forcing the girl to keep pace with her backwards march. She needed her out of the way. Or to run away. Sakura didn't care which one she chose, but she needed her out of her space and fast. 

_Two..._

The man noticed, of course, and matched their steps teasingly, making a great show of staying in time with their feet. Sakura tensed, raising her fists up and crouching, fully prepared to lose against this particular opponent. 

_One..._

"Gin, that's enough." 

_Good lord, Sakura wished these Soul Reapers would stop popping up out of nowhere._

The silver-haired _fox of a man_ acquiesced, bowing his head shallowly. "My apologies, Captain," He demurred. He was such a _tease_ and such a _jokester_ and Sakura quickly discovered that she had a new found hatred for people like him. "It seems to me, though, that she doesn't want to cooperate very much." 

She didn't even have time to voice her complaints when the new person merely smiled indulgingly. "You weren't being very cooperative yourself," He chided. "How do you expect her to safely answer your questions if you avoid answering her own?" 

He was a weird man. Not as weird as Foxface, but still...weird. He practically exuded a gentle and soothing aura and the warm brown eyes hidden behind rectangular glasses, though not directed at Sakura, allowed the tension in her body to slowly ease up, if only by a little. The white haori he wore told her that he was a Captain and a strong one at that. He was powerful. Very powerful, but it wasn't the suffocating kind of power that she'd experienced now and before. He was calm and seemingly gentle and clearly wasn't there for a confrontation unlike his friend. 

Sakura wasn't sure what category to put the stranger in. 

He finally addressed Sakura, nodding his head politely. "Forgive my Lieutenant," He said softly. A small smile graced his lips that was clearly meant to reassure Sakura. "He can be quite a tease, but he's harmless." 

Yeah, Sakura didn't believe that one little bit. That man was a _threat._ And so was this one, but he was better at hiding it. 

"Who are you?" Sakura repeated. "And why were you looking for me?" 

The man chuckled good-naturedly. "Actually, we're looking for both of you. We've been searching for quite a while now, but I'm relieved to have finally found you." 

"Looking for us?" Harlow interjected breathlessly. Sakura jerked at the short raspy breaths that were leaving the girl's lips and was instantly worried if she was about to have a panic attack. "For what?" She asked. 

Foxface pointed a taunting finger. "Exactly for that reason." 

Sakura registered the weight pressed more firmly against her back and froze, turning to Harlow with wide eyes. Pale, sweating, and heavily breathing Harlow who looked like she was two seconds away from dropping. "Harlow?" Sakura murmured, confused. 

A long-fingered hand descended upon unruly brown locks, carefully threading through the mess. Sakura jumped, not having felt him sneak up on her. "Breath, young one," The Captain commanded in a gentle tenor. "Ignore the fear and focus on your breathing. Match mine now. In...out. In...out." He did this multiple times with the girl, breathing in and out with her as she gasped her way through it. 

"W-What's happening to her?" Sakura murmured, loud enough for the Captain to hear her. He opened his mouth as if to answer her, but Foxface sidling up to her side stopped him. 

"Ya know," He drawled, circling Sakura till he was in front of her. He leaned in close, ignoring the minute scowl on Sakura's lips. She silently dared him to inch that little bit closer to her, determined to somehow wrap her hand around his spindly fingers and breaking them with her unnatural strength. "Ya should really turn off your Spiritual Pressure when you're angry, girlie," He whispered lowly, meant for only her ears. Judging by the Captain's side eyed glance, he clearly heard every word. 

Sakura blinked. "Turn off...my Spiritual Pressure? What are you—" Because _what_ —

He fearlessly interrupted her, his grin turning more mocking. "Your Spiritual Pressure. Turn it off. Otherwise you'll just kill your kiddie." 

Sakura's mind went abruptly blank and she found herself unsure of just what exactly was going. Or what exactly this Soul Reaper Lieutenant was even saying. 

(She'd find out soon enough that moments like this would be happening _a lot_.)


End file.
